Reasons for becoming a photographer

Notice: The text on this website is a Japanese text translated into English by automatic machine translation. Because I’m not good at English. I’m sorry, but it may be a strange sentence.

How can I become a photographer?

“How can I become a photographer?” With the proliferation of mobile phones and smartphones, the number of people who take photographs is increasing explosively, so I think more people are thinking about this.

Why I became a photographer. That is just one. I wanted to take pictures that wouldn’t be possible unless I was a photographer. This is a little different from the idea of ​​“becoming a photographer = making a living from photography”, but I would appreciate it if you could refer to it as one of the ideas.

I started taking pictures when I was a high school student, but after graduating from university, I found a job at a company that had nothing to do with photography, and took various places as an amateur. However, no matter how much I shoot, I couldn’t take a picture that I could be satisfied with. It’s just like looking at the surface of the world. That was always the case. I wanted to work with photography to pursue it more deeply, I didn’t study photography at school, and at that time (around 1990), there wasn’t a digital camera or internet, so It was difficult to study by myself. So I changed my job to a company that worked on photography. I thought that a company that worked in photography could learn the skill and find subjects and themes that would convince me. After I changed jobs, my photos started to be used as advertisements in newspapers and trains. It was fun, I learned a certain amount of skill, and I had the opportunity to shoot in places that amateurs could not take. Something is missing.

I’d like to please someone with what I am good at. I want to help the world.

This was because I didn’t realize this idea I thought when I was in high school. In the photos taken as company employees, clients and designers were pleased, but I didn’t feel that they were useful to the world. I learned the skill. I can go to the place not to be able to go in the amateurs. But I don’t know how to use it for the world. Therefore, I became free to seek further possibilities, and since I was allowed to shoot the construction site I was interested in since I was a child, I found an interesting subject and a problem on the site at the same time, and finally at that point finally “Skill” , “Funny subject” and “Purpose” are all in one, and I found what I should do. It takes about 10 years since I learned the skill, and about 20 years after I started touching the camera. The analog era took time anyway. I don’t think it will take much time now.

I wanted to take pictures that would not be possible unless I was a photographer.

As I wrote at the beginning, I became a photographer based on this idea, so I try not to shoot subjects that can be taken by amateurs as much as possible. I don’t have the confidence to make a difference just by shooting everyday scenes that anyone can shoot. I am not so creative. I make up for the lack of creative by engaging with society and the times.